Hidden Thoughts
by starStruck272
Summary: //One-shot// Shikamaru's short character analysis on Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke and Neji.


A/N: This one was done last year in August. Finally beta-ed so should be a bit more coherent...

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Pairing: None.

Rating: G

Characters: Shikamaru, small flashes of Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, and Neji.

Category: General

Warnings: None really...

Disclaimer: Not mine and never will be.

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Shikamaru sighed lazily and wondered why he was accompanying Naruto on a trip to the ramen stand, when he could be happily lying on the hills watching the clouds pass by.

Maybe it was because the IQ part of the brain was currently awake and was nagging at him to investigate Naruto.

His lazy outlook was, after all, something his IQ kept up just to amuse itself. True, he had ordinary goals and ordinary hobbies, but his IQ just would not accept the fact that he, Shikamaru as a whole, wanted to be ordinary. Thus to placate that smartness and spare himself some pain due to conflict of thoughts, he took up the past time of studying people and became pretty adept at it. It kept his IQ satisfied and honed his skills on judging people's characters. It was very beneficial for both sides and it wasn't too much trouble.

He didn't want that IQ part to start getting agitated. It would make him do things which would pretty much shatter that lazy, grumpy, boring mask he had made for himself. And then there would be a lot of trouble. Thus Shikamaru took the chance to observe Naruto.

The funny thing about Naruto was that no matter how much he tried to act brash or hyperactive or just like an immature kid, he could never completely mask his fear of being left alone. How he acted and what he did gave him away for who he truly wanted to anyone who was studying him. His pranks reflected the fact that he wanted people to see him and acknowledge him. His fierce loyalty reflected a past of something which has never experienced. His fervor to never give up reflected the honest and idealist part of Naruto which ultimately made him Naruto.

However Naruto wasn't just the only one who wore a mask. Shikamaru could easily tell who was wearing one just by watching all their actions and everything they did. Sakura, for example, wasn't as cold-hearted to Naruto as everyone believed. He could tell that she only acted rude to Naruto so Naruto wouldn't keep following her around and like her. Shikamaru knew that Sakura didn't have the heart to reject Naruto harshly, so she prepares him through everyday actions. One look at Sakura tells him the telltale signs of care whenever she has been extra mean to Naruto. The way she holds herself and that slight twitch of her lip gives away what she truly thinks. But most of all are the feelings reflected in her eyes...

The main source that gives things away most of the time are the unhidden expressions in the eyes.They reflect things even when their owner is experienced in shielding things from people. Shikamaru thought it was ironic for Sasuke to be one of those people who couldn't keep their eyes from reflecting emotions. He had absolute control on how his body reacted and had a tight grip on his emotions, except for maybe hate and anger. Shikamaru couldn't really read whether Sasuke was hiding behind a mask or not just from his body language as they were just the barest of twitches. But once he looked in his eyes...

Shikamaru was an adept at reading people. His IQ filed away most of the info he collected until he needed it, and to keep it busy, he had studied many, many people. Out of all of them however, Neji was one of the hardest. Some could argue Neji was emotionless. Whatever it was, Shikamaru couldn't get close enough for him to study him. Neji always ended up as a blank and it didn't help that he had perfect control over his eyes and his body language. He was one of those ice blocks all right. However the fight with Hinata really thawed him outand Shikamaru was grateful. Neji was powerful and a prodigy, someone who could provide a lot of information to keep his IQ digesting for at least two weeks. A time which he could use to laze around as long as he wanted.

However for the moment, he was accompanying Naruto and was sure to get an earful of chatter whether he liked it or not. After all, he had already satisfied his IQ for at least a few hours. Later on he would go scout for Neji, but right now, he wanted to be lazy.

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Comment on this please?


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